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3 - Christianity and the Birth of Ambassadorial Deontology: Some Historical Notes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2021

Pamela Slotte
Affiliation:
Åbo Akademi University
John D. Haskell
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
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Summary

Embassy lies at the heart of Christianity. Recall the archangel Gabriel, sent as God’s messenger to Mary in the village of Nazareth. This event alone, described in Luke’s Gospel (1:26–37) and represented in lively pictures and sculptures innumerable times, is enough to remind us of the long historical connection between Christianity and diplomacy. And so it is no surprise that, as a specific literature on the ambassador began to develop in early modern Europe, the analogy between diplomats and angels was very frequently used. The roots of this analogy can be traced back to the writings of the Jewish thinker Philo of Alexandria († c. AD 50), and to the biblical Letter to the Hebrews (1:14), traditionally credited to Paul. It was from the late Middle Ages onward, however, that the analogy really gained currency, in parallel with the development of diplomatic theory and practice.

Type
Chapter
Information
Christianity and International Law
An Introduction
, pp. 41 - 58
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Recommended Reading

Bash, Anthony. Ambassadors for Christ: An Exploration of Ambassadorial Language in the New Testament. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1997.Google Scholar
Faitini, Tiziana. “Shaping the Profession: Some Thoughts on Office, Duty, and the Moral Problematisation of Professional Activities in the Counter-Reformation.” Journal of Early Modern Christianity 7, no. 1 (2020): 177–200.Google Scholar
Fedele, Dante. Naissance de la diplomatie moderne (XIII e–XVII e siècles): L’ambassadeur au croisement du droit, de l’éthique et de la politique. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag; Zürich: Dike Verlag, 2017.Google Scholar
Kantorowicz, Ernst H. The King’s Two Bodies: A Study in Medieval Political Theology. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Ménager, Daniel. L’ange et l’ambassadeur: Diplomatie et théologie à la Renaissance. Paris: Garnier, 2013.Google Scholar

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